New Year's Resolutions

In only a couple of weeks’ time all of the excitement and hum of Christmas will be gone and we will start to plan a ‘huge night’, which I have to say in my experience tends to be a real let-down. It is the one night a year we feel we must have fun. But that aside there is a long tradition attached to New Year’s Eve (and not the kissing someone on the stroke of midnight!) and that is the New Year’s Resolution. It is thought that the tradition of the New Year’s Resolution dates back to early Roman times with the mythical king Janus who, with 2 faces, was able to look forward and look back. It was this looking forward to the new year where the tradition of making plans for the year ahead began.

I would bet that almost every one of you reading this has made a resolution of some kind or another and by the time January has finished it is nothing more than a distant memory that already seems impossible to achieve.

In these times of economic uncertainty making a resolution to get your finances in order makes good sense. But even the thought of this can make one want to lie in a dark room with a cold flannel over the eyes. BUT don’t be put off. Make this year, 2012, the year you really make some inroads into getting ahead financially.

Getting started at looking at your finances can be scary but engaging a professional is the best way to go. I am suggesting that you only need to do 2 things. YES, that right 2 things. If you follow these steps, you will almost certainly have more control over your money, more money in your pocket and a real financial plan for the future.

So, step 1 is simple! Pick up the phone and call me or one of my brokers at FinanceCorp. We will come and visit you in your home and run an assessment on your home mortgage as well as your other loans and debts. Armed with this information we can go away, negotiate with various financial institutions and come back with some suggestions. This may be refinancing to consolidate some high interest-debt or finding a home loan with a more competitive rate of interest.

And secondly, pick up the phone again and call a Financial Planner. We use and recommend Doug from Defined Financial Advantage (mainly because he is a total sweetie and smart to boot!) He can discuss with you all manner of financial services including life insurance, income protection and superannuation. And before you think ‘I can’t afford this’ have a chat with him. Quite often you can pay your life insurance out of your super and with the savings you will have made on your other loans you will have money to direct into things like income protection that will give you and your family real financial security.

So make sorting out your finances the best New Year’s Resolution ever and make it happen in only 2 phone calls.

On that note – Happy New Year to you all and may 2012 be a truly prosperous one for you and your family.

Tracey xx